The Blue Spiral
by Ninja Way
Summary: Hatake Kaze is a not-so-normal shinobi from Konoha, for many reasons. But when she finally awakens from her seemingly endless coma, she finally gets to find out what those reasons are. By Willow Angel.
1. Trapped

Well, as far as I knew, it was just another day in this damned place. Not that I could tell day from night, when I was trapped inside my own body.

The figure behind me stirred. "I sense your impatience," she said softly, in that beautiful, flowing voice of hers. She was meditating with her hands in her lap and her eyes closed. She was floating just of the water, her pure white hair flowing out behind her.

I whirled around, glaring daggers at her. "Impatience," I repeated coldly. " _Impatience?_ I have been stuck here for god knows how long, recovering, after the biggest jerk on the planet put a hole in my stomach. I haven't been able to see what's going on, talk to anyone, or even know how old I am, let alone wake up from this rotten hell, where all I do is sit around and wait for you to catch up!" I threw my hands in the air. "And you think I'm impatient. Well done." I clapped slowly. "Well bloody done."

"Calm yourself, please," she said, slightly more firmly. "I will tell you these things: Konoha is fine, your friends are fine, and I believe that you have recently turned sixteen years of age." She smiled slightly, although her eyes remained closed.

My mouth fell open. "Sixteen. I'm sixteen years old now." I blinked, before burying my face in my hands. "Sixteen," I mumbled, my voice muffled. "I don't believe this."

Hi. The name's Hatake Kaze, and I've been in a coma for about two and a half years now.

 _Oh, great,_ I thought to myself.

I took my hands away from my face and looked at my reflection in the water I was standing on. Flaming red hair that fell in waves down to my knees now, which seemed even brighter against my pale skin, and the true colour of my eyes. I fully expected them to be violet, to match every other feature that I shared of my late mother, but they weren't: they were black. A dark, almost soulless black, that blended in with my pupils. It was almost… scary.

No, my eyes didn't match my mother. They matched the eyes of my brother, Kakashi, and his father, Sakumo. But the weird thing was, Hatake Sakumo wasn't _my_ father. He died long before I was born. _So why on Earth do my eyes match his?_ I asked myself desperately, putting a hand over one eye. It was a question that would likely never be answered. I sighed and closed my eyes, my hand dropping down to my side.

"This is your mind," she said softly. "You can make this into whatever kind of haven you want. You haven't done so for many days now."

"I'm sick and tired of this place," I grumbled. She fell silent, the only sound able to be heard was her breathing, slow and steady, in a constant rhythm.

I opened my eyes and looked at myself again. But this time my eyes dropped to my stomach, hidden behind a simple black singlet. Slowly, I lifted it up, exposing my stomach – or what was left of it. It was a mess. Scars everywhere, all pointing to the same spot in the centre of my torso. All because I was stupid, and let down my guard for the moment that mattered most. I touched the centre of the giant scar and sighed. _Damn you, Sasuke, you jerk…_

Suddenly there was an echo. The water rippled, and I look up.

"Hey Kaze," the voice said. I smiled. Kakashi. "Me again."

"Hey," I whispered, even though he couldn't hear me. "It's been a while."

"Today there's someone I'd like you to meet," Kakashi continued, his quiet voice echoing throughout the chamber. I smiled sadly, although she did nothing but continue to meditate, evenly breathing.

"Oh yeah?" I grinned.

"Kaze, this is Faith," he said.

"Ooh, a new girlfriend?" I teased, sticking my tongue out slightly.

"She's new to the village. Or, as far as we know."

I tilted my head in confusion, in the few seconds of silence that followed. "Go on," Kakashi murmured, probably talking to the other person, this mysterious new _Faith_ character.

"Hey," came a new voice. Female, low and to the point, sounded about the same age as Kakashi, probably extremely introverted. Like she'd have no problem hurting someone. "I'm Faith." And that was it. Fair enough, I thought, too. I mean, what would you say to a girl in a coma that you'd never met before? I knew that I'd feel slightly weird. It would be like talking to myself.

"Definitely a new girlfriend," I chuckled, shaking my head. I asked thin air, "Wonder what's got you so hooked on this chick, eh? Doesn't sound very sociable. Hm, when I wake up, I'll have to have a chat with her…

"How long has she been under?" Faith asked.

Kakashi was silent for a few moments. "Two and a half years," he finally said. "She recently had her sixteenth birthday. Not much I could get her, though. I got her some new clothes, for when she wakes up."

"But you don't know when that will be," Faith replied. _Man, what a pessimist._ I raised an eyebrow.

"Yep, I'm definitely gonna have to have a chat with her," I said sarcastically.

"It'll be soon," Kakashi murmured. "I know it. It has to be. It's been so long…"

"Damn straight, bro," I agreed, and rolled my eyes. I turned and glared at her. "When _she_ finally decides to be nice and wake me up, we'll all be happy and smiles again."

"Kaze…" she sighed.

Kakashi and Faith continued to talk over my unconscious body. Surely they couldn't know that I couldn't hear everything they're saying, right?

Soon the conversation ended, and they left, leaving me alone with her. Again. Just the same old, same old, same as every day that he comes to visit.

I don't know how long it was before Kakashi came to me again, alone. He didn't stay, but made it quick. "Hey, Kaze," he murmured. "I'm going on a mission again, but I have to leave now."

"Really?" I sighed.

"I'll be back." With that, he left.

"Bye," I whispered. "Be safe."

I also don't know how long it was after that, that the cavern rumbled. I stumbled, putting my arms out to help me keep my balance. I turned around to look at her. Her hair was flowing out behind her, and blinding white chakra was pouring out from where the palms of her hands touched. "What's going on?" I demanded warily.

"Kaze," she began. Her eyes opened slowly: the right one a brilliant blue, the left as white as the chakra. The power from those eyes shined as she stared into mine, and I grinned. "Kaze," Saino said again. "It is time."


	2. Awakening

I woke up to the sound of a regular, steady beeping. My eyes fluttered open, and I felt power surge through me. I felt tubes and wires all around me, sticking into my arms and a mask over my mouth and nose, giving me air. And I took my first conscious breath in over two years. It felt amazing.

I should've felt tired, but I was wide awake. I felt my right eye surge with chakra, and it tingled all the way around my body: down my neck and chest, through my arms and to the tips of my fingers. Down my legs and into my feet, giving me movement.

I pulled the mask off of my face and was greeted with a rush of cold air. But I didn't stop, didn't slow for a minute. I sat upright and looked to the side, seeing a pile of clothes by my bedside. The ones that Kakashi got me. I ripped the rest of the wires and tubes off and out, almost leaping out of bed. I got changed out of the white nightgown that the hospital must have provided, into a very comfortable and fitting singlet with a crop top underneath, track pants that weren't too tight or too lose and black ninja sandals.

 _Damn_ , I thought. _Kakashi did well._

Saino's voice rang in my head again, and I could hear the urgency on her voice. _"Kaze,"_ she said. _"You need to hurry. Kakashi went on a dangerous mission with Guy and Yamato, and they came across some trouble - in numbers. You need to get there in time to stop them from being killed!"_

My common sense told me that there weren't many people that could outdo Kakshi, and why should this be any different? But my gut told me that something was wrong, and of course, I followed my gut.

I was out of there. I almost flew out of the window, running across roofs like a streak of lightning. Nobody noticed my flaming hair, and I counted that as a good thing.

When I reached my house - that was still incredibly well-kept - I immediately went for my room. I took my mother's silver ribbon and tied up my hair into a ponytail, before grabbing my katana and pulling it out of its sheath. I looked it over for rust or any other signs of decay, but there were none. It seemed that Kakashi had been cleaning it on a regular basis, like I always had. Since I had no belt, I buckled it onto my back, with the handle over my right shoulder. I pulled the hair that got trapped under it out, and looked in the full-length mirror.

 _"Do you know where they went?"_ I asked Saino. My voice rang out inside my head, but I never once opened my mouth.

 _"Through the forests to the east of the village,"_ she said. _"They have passed a few smaller villages along the way and bought a few small supplies. They haven't quite crossed the border of the Lands of Fire and Wind yet, I think."_

 _"Do you have an exact location?"_ I liked around and spotted a photo of Kakashi and I on my bedside table, next to my headband. I took it out of its frame and looked at it. It was of us at my Graduation ceremony - the day I passed my Genin exam. I looked down at my headband, and strapped that into my forehead.

 _"No, but if we go through the same villages, we can ask around,"_ she answered as I pulled out my black cloak from my wardrobe and put it on, pulling on the hood to hide my hair and the mask over my mouth and nose. It felt awful to muffle my air supply so soon after breathing again, but it had to be done. I tucked the photo into a secret pocket, where I wouldn't have to worry about it flying out.

 _"It'll be a start,"_ I agreed. _"But someone's bound to notice that I'm missing soon."_

 _"Then we'd better hurry before something really bad happens,"_ she insisted. _"With your speed, we should reach the first village in under an hour - they were there in that time frame."_

I grinned. "Make it half," I challenged aloud. And then I was off again, flying over rooftops and towards the east forests of Konoha.

I don't know how I never ran out of energy, over the many plains that I ran through. And for such a long time, I never ran into any trouble. None of the swooping birds caught me, and I only occasionally stopped to drink water from the streams. I only slowed down when I saw the first village coming closer. I took the mask off my face and took joy in breathing fresh air again, although I kept the hood on. I put on a small smile and wandered into the town.

It was a perfect example of peaceful - small and quiet, yet buzzing with happiness. Everybody was so happy and were all smiling, and a few nodded to me as I passed them. One even said "Good afternoon, miss!"

"Afternoon," I replied, smiling and nodding to him. And I noticed that he, along with every other person, was wearing a black armband. A sign that one of their own had died. I wondered who it was.

Soon I saw something promising: a fruit merchant. Something small that would easily fit into a pack, that would be exactly Kakashi's style. I wandered over to him and he looked up at me, and I noticed that he looked just as friendly as everyone else.

"Good afternoon, miss," he greeted me. "What may I get you?" He spread his arms wide, displaying his food.

I smiled and shook my head. "I'm mot looking to buy food, I'm afraid," I told him. I took the photo out of the pocket and held it out to him. "Actually, I was wondering if you've seen the man in this photo, by any chance?"

The man studied the photo for a second and then burst out laughing. I tilted my head in confusion as he grinned at me. "Ah, yes. I've seen him. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to know who you are before I tell you anything."

I smiled. "Smart," I agreed,and pulled off my hood, revealing my mass of red hair. "I'm the girl in the photo, his sister. That was taken a few years ago, obviously."

The man chuckled. "Of course you are," he said. "You must be the little Hatake. My word, do you look like your mother."

"You knew my mother?" I asked, tilting my head again as he nodded with a smile. "And I'm assuming you know Kakashi."

"Indeed I do, Hatake-san," the man replied. "You seem to be in a hurry, so I'll spare you the story. He came to this very stall just a few hours ago. Said he was heading east - some madman traitor to catch before he wiped out a village. Mass murderer, you see," he continued. "Took quite a lot of our own just last night. That's why we're all wearing black armbands." He pointed out the one he was wearing. "Completely psycho, and fought off and killed quite a number of our security before he escaped. But we all carry on. They wouldn't want us to mope around all day. And I will say that his two companions were quite surprised to see him talking so openly to an apparent stranger."  
"I see." I nodded, pulling my hood back up. "So I just keep heading east?"

"If you go fast enough, you're bound to run into them sooner or later," he said with a smile. He chucked me an apple, and I caught it, surprised. "To reunite a family, an apple's not worth much," he explained, seeing the look of confusion on my face. "You look like you need a bit of food."

I smiled. "Thank you," I said.

He waved off my thanks. "No worries," he replied. "Just stay safe." I nodded, and hurried off, munching on the apple. I quickly finished it and chucked the core in a trash can, before speeding off again, pulling my mask up over my face.  
A mass murderer. They were going to try and take on an apparently psychotic mass murderer that apparently killed a bunch of people in one town and escaped?

 _You're nuts, Kakashi_ , I thought grimly. _And I have a bad feeling that something is wrong._


	3. The First Fight in Years

I didn't stop to talk to or look at anyone on the way out of the village. Questions kept racing through my head, and it was making it hard for me to concentrate on where I was going.

"Kaze," Saino warned. "Focus."

I mentally slapped myself, and continued. "East," I muttered. "East... I'm coming, Kakashi."

And I carried on, fighting back the exhaustion that was nudging its way into my lungs and muscles. My calves burned from the sudden pressure - two and a half years without excercise was taking its toll. But I had to ignore it.

And before I knew it, I was out of the village and into the surrounding forest.

With Saino's voice echoing in my head, continuously saying, "Focus, Kaze, focus, ignore the pain!", I focused my chakra into my feet and legs, strengthening the muscles and cancelling out the pain.

The need to get to my brother was to great even for pain such as that to falter. It was my job as a sister. My job as my mother's daughter.

I ran and ran east along the stream until I could run no more. I was slowing down a little, gradually coming to a halt, when my knees gave way and I crashed to the ground. I sat myself up under a tree, panting, sweat pouring down my face. I pulled off my mask and hood, taking in grateful gulps of air. I crawled over to the stream, cupped some water in my hands and drank.

"Are you okay?" Saino asked gently.

"Yeah," I replied. "Just gimme a minute here."

"Of course."

I drank a few more cupped handfuls of water, before standing up and putting my hands behind my head, opening up my lungs and allowing air to flow through. I had the biggest stitch on the planet, but I wasn't dying. I took slow, deep breaths, and took a few minutes to recover. I cracked my back, stretching and loosening the muscles in my shoulders.

"Shall we continue?" Saino asked, not a trace of urgency flowing in her voice.

I nodded. "We shall," I agreed, and pulled up my hood and mask. I took one last, deep breath and took off again.

It wasn't long after that I heard raised voices, and the clash of metal. I drew my blade and hurried on, sensing chakra flowing dangerously. Saino looked through my eyes sensing chakra and extending our vision, and I saw what she saw: three men fighting one man and two shadow clones, each one as deadly as the original. And the three men were Guy-sensei, Yamato, and Kakashi. Tightening my grip on my sword, I charged. Saino's vision showed me a clone swinging a sword at Yamato, who had no line of defense up, and I plunged right into the line of battle, ducking under Yamato, bringing my sword up to block the attacker's and leaving Yamato speechless behind me.

"Who-" he spluttered.

Not loosening my grip one bit, I turned my head slightly, so Yamato could see my left eye - white as the winter snow. "Help the others!" I ordered. "I can handle this one." I turned my attention back to the clone, who quickly withdrew his sword from the grip, sending me stumbling forwards. Cursing my clumsiness, I regained my balance just in time to see him come at me again. He tried to lunge, but I blocked it and we were locked in a death grip.

"Your weight!" Saino guided me.

Remembering my training, I twisted my wrist so that my sword was in top of his, then I jumped up and swung my foot into the side of his head. The clone flew sideways and disappeared with a puff of smoke. I landed roughly, and rolled onto my feet, a new pain jabbing on my hip bone.

I turned to see Yamato still standing speechless, staring at me like he'd seen a ghost. I pulled off my hood and my mask down, revealing my face. "Go!" I roared, and, as if waking from a trance, he nodded, rushing to help Guy with another clone. I, however, ducked over to help Kakashi, who hadn't paid any attention to me. But as I ran past him to the man, I saw him falter, his black eye and his Sharingan eye widening in shock.

The attacker - who had absorbed the memories of the shadow clone that I destroyed - saw me coming and twisted his weight, sending a foot out like a snake, trying to trip me. I jumped over it, landed on my hands, twisted and rightened myself again, facing the man's back. Kakashi's eyes were visible over his shoulder, and they were starting right at me.

"Hi," I said with a grin. "You miss me?"

"Kaze?" he asked blankly.

"The one and only." I winked.

"But how...?"

I shook my head. "Never mind that," I insisted. "We have to do this first!"

Kakashi snapped out of it, returning to his battle stance, kunai in hand. "Right," he agreed. "Let's do this."

The attacker laughed. "You didn't tell me you had a pretty girl as backup," he said, with a crazed grin.

I smirked. "Bet he also didn't tell you that I'm more than just a pretty face," I replied, tightening the grip on my katana.

He grinned wider. "I'll bet you are," he agreed. "Which is going to make this even more fun."

Then he struck out at me, sword flashing. I stood my ground, parrying his blow. When he drew back and lunged for a stab, I sidestepped and swung around him, ramming the hilt of my sword into the pressure point on the back of his neck. He fell forward to his knees, stunned. I jumped back as Kakashi came forward, getting behind him and putting a kunai to his throat.

"Surrender now," he growled, "and we may spare your life."

The man grinned his crazed grin. "Not my style," was all he said before I saw a flash of metal and heard Kakashi's cry of pain.

The man had hidden a blade up his sleeve and had stabbed the nerves in Kakashi's leg, rendering it useless. Kakashi came crashing to the ground and the man twisted up, pulling the blade out with the horrible sound of ripping skin. Kakashi hissed in pain and was helpless as the man shot out like a snake and dug the same blade into the same place on the other leg, and ripping it out again.

My whole world slowed as I saw red. I went rigid with rage, and then I started shaking. I faintly heard Guy and Yamato call out to someone, but all I heard was the man growling to Kakashi, "One down, three to go."

But before he could even begin to bring the blade down, I was behind him, and had buried my katana in his heart. The end if the blade protruded from his chest with dark red blood running off of it.

"One down," I muttered in his ear. "None left. Go to hell, where you belong."

And then he started laughing - laughing a high pitched, insane laugh. And he didn't stop, even when I had taken my blade out and he had fallen to the ground. No, he didn't stop until blood filled his mouth and he choked on his own blood, staining the once lush green grass a filthy red.

I didn't hesitate, I just ran over to where Kakashi was bleeding on the ground.

"Good grief," I muttered, kneeling down next to him. "He really got you there, didn't he?" I studied the wounds. They were identical in every way: size, shape, place. This guy knew exactly what he was doing.

"Don't worry," Kakashi said, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "It's not serious. And I can't feel my legs at the moment, and the blood flow isn't bad. I'll be okay."

I sighed in relief, and then the breath was knocked out of me as Kakashi pulled me into an awkward, one-armed hug.

"I missed you," he murmured.

I smiled, returned the hug. "I missed you too."


End file.
